SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court in California last week grappled with a proposed ban on so-called conversion therapy that claims to be able to change a minor’s sexual orientation and whether the issue was one of free speech or a mere regulation of medical treatment, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals considered two lower-court rulings that reached opposite conclusions about the constitutionality of the new state law which would penalize licensed health professionals who engage in “ex-gay” therapy, the paper said.

The California law banning so-called conversion therapy, the first of its kind in the country, was supposed to have taken effect in January. But therapists and families challenged it, and the 9th Circuit put it on holding pending a ruling, which is expected in a few months, the Times reported.